Why Every Coin Collector Should Join the ANA

Most coin collectors know that the more formal name of their hobby is "numismatics."  The American Numismatic Association (ANA) is the premiere organization serving coin collectors and dealers.  In fact, it is one of only a handful of organizations to be chartered by the U.S. Congress (others include the American Red Cross and the U.S. Olympic Association).  I highly recommend that you take a good look at joining the ANA, because it offers a wide variety of benefits that more than repays whatever you pay for annual membership. 

Here are some of the benefits you get:

- A subscription to their full-color, professional magazine: The Numismatist.  In fact, the only difference between the less expensive Basic Membership and the Regular Membership is whether you get this helpful magazine sent to you in electronic (.pdf) format, or as a regular magazine via the U.S. Mail.  Many members see this subscription as worth the entire price of membership, meaning that everything else below is just a nice extra.

SERVICES - Access to the services of the ANA subsidiaries: Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC), Numismatic Conservation Service (NCS), and Paper Money Guaranty (PMG).  If you ever need professional coin grading and certification, help in preserving and stabilizing a rare coin, or help in grading and encapsulating a bill or paper money, then membership in the ANA is a pre-requisite to using the services of these respected organizations.

EDUCATION - Access to helpful education.  The ANA does seminars in Colorado Springs, CO, has correspondence courses you can use to learn more about coins and coin collecting, and offers a wide variety of valuable resources to help you learn more about coin collecting.

FREE ADMISSION or ACCESS - You get a year's worth of free access to the Coin World Digital Library - which normally costs $9.99.  You get web access to over 500 local and regional coin club sites. You get access to the ANA Dealers Directory so you can find reputable coin dealers near you. You also get free admission to the National Money Show, the World's Fair of Money, the Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library, and the Edward C. Rochette Money Museum.

DISCOUNTS - You get discounts and special member pricing for a variety of helpful offerings from many companies, including:
 - Dell Home and Office (you get 7% discounts, similar to Dell employee discounts!)
 - Hertz (ANA group rates)
 - Mayflower (ANA discounts for when you want to move, hassle-free)
 - Liberty Mutual (ANA discounts of 10-15% off home and auto insurance)
 - Up to 83% off subscriptions to Bank Note Reporter, Coins, Coin Prices, Numismatic News and World Coins News.
 - Gerlitz Group (discounts off various health, dental, & disability insurance / offerings)
 - Hugh Wood (special insurance offerings for collectors)
 - Collateral Finance Corporation (lower rate loans secured by your coins and precious metals)

You can visit http://www.money.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Membership/Benefits/default.htm for even more information.

If you would like to join the ANA, just call (800) 514-2646, or visit: 
http://www.money.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Membership/InstructionsandRates/default.htm

In either case, when they ask you how you learned about ANA, just tell them Joel Rettew sent you.

Thank you for reading this far.  Please feel free to check out my other Guides - thousands of others have found them helpful - I hope you will too.

And if you find this guide helpful in understanding the ANA and the reasons you might want to join, just click on "Yes" below, because I need your help to become a Top 10 reviewer!